Coke oven doors



Aug. 21, 1956 .J. M. GILLOTT COKE OVEN DOORS Filed Aug. 10. 1951 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 19/ 6 ////V Inventor Attorneys Aug. 21, 1956 J. M. GILLOTT 2,759,884

COKE OVEN DOORS Filed Aug. 10. 1951 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inventor /H/v M Quorr Attorneys Aug. 21, 1956 J. M. GILLOTT 2,

COKE OVEN DOORS Filed Aug. 10. 1951 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 FIGS.

I nventor Attornevs Aug. 21, 1956 J. M. GILLOTT 2,759,334

. COKE OVEN DOORS Filed Aug. 10, 1951 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Inventor A ttorneys Aug. 21, 1956 J. M. GILLOTT COKE OVEN DOORS Filed Au 10. 1951 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Attorneys United States Patent COKE OVEN DOORS John Melville Gillott, Sheffield, England Application August 10, 1951, Serial No 241,338 18 Claims. (Cl. 202-248) This invention relates to the upright doors of horizontal coke ovens of the self-sealing type intended to be removed from and replaced inthe door frameby aadoor handling machine movable horizontally across the end of an oven to align a door with the frame, and adapted to move the door horizontally in line with the oven to enable the inwardly projecting refractory lining of the door to pass into and out of the oven opening and to enable sealing contact to be made and broken between co-operatin'g sealing strips and faces extending completely round the door and the frame. The strips are generally carried by the door, usually resiliently, and sometimes with adjustment by means of screws carried by lugs on the. door. Such doors need no luting of clay or the like to prevent ingress of air into or escape of gas from the oven chamber.

The door is dropped slightly in its frame, so that the very considerable weight of the door is taken on the bottom of the frame or on a sole plate; or the door may be located by means of dowels and holes, the dowels then taking the weight. It is a matter of importance, and no little difficulty, to hold the door in place in such a manner that the seal is effective round the whole door, especially in view of the inevitable expansion as the door heats up. When, as in some constructions of door, screw pressure is used to hold the door in place, the pressure is increased on expansion of the door, with possible damage or distortion at the sealing strips or faces, and theamount of pressure may be uneven because itdepends on the manner in which the operator tightens up the screws and on the interference arising by friction at the sole plate or the dowels. If the pressure is applied through springs, there is the danger that the heat of the door or its frame may destroy their temper.

It is known in connection with doors that are lowered into alignment with the frame to utilise the weight of the door to urge the door into seating with the frame by allowing rollers or wedges fixed to the door to drop into hooks with inclined surfaces fixed to the frame, or wedges fixed to the door to drop behind rollers fixed to' the frame, whereby a horizontal thrust is produced as the members fixed to the frame take the weight of the door. Because a vertical movement of the whole door is required to bring the door into sealing position and the-wedges, rollers, or hooks fixed to the door into operativeposi tion, these known arrangements arenot directly appli'-' cable to doors requiring to be moved" horizontally; Moreover, since it is difficulflto provide and maintain close accuracy of shape of tall doors and frames o'rr'ac count of wear or distortion arising by heating; wedges or the like fixed to the door at different levels may" not" provide sufiiciently close distribution of pressure to ensure effective sealing at all points round the ffame:

It is also known to use with self-sealing doors independent locking means having a" toggle action' tor'esolve* the weight of the door into sealing thrusts when the door is lowered over the frame sufliciently for the locking means to engage hook abutments; but, here again; it is ice difficult to provide fair distribution of the total sealing pressure, because one locking means may come into prior contact and develop an undue proportion of the total resolved sealing thrust before the other locking means has made the contact necessary for it to develop a sealing thrust. This must be the case whatever the form of resolving mechanism used.

The principal object-ofthe'present invention is to provide a self-sealing door that not only enables the weight of the door to be utilised for-the'developmentof sealing thrusts with simple manipulation-by the door handling machine to effect the substantially horizontal placing and withdrawing of the door, but also compensates the sealing thrusts applied at different levels in the height of the door so that effective sealing results at all points, by fair distribution of the total sealing thrust.

Accordingly, therefore, the invention consists in a selfsealing door adapted to co-operatein upright position with the frame of a horizontal coke oven, and to be placed and withdrawn by substantially horizontal movements with respect to the frame, with sealing strips and faces round the door and frame pressed together by locking means disposed at different heights on the door to be thrust against abutments on the oven structure, said door having locking means in the form of jamming mechanisms-and thrust-compensating gear connecting the jamming mechanisms and' ad'apted to bring the jamming mechanisms together into initial sealing-thrust contact with corresponding abutments, the interconnected jamming mechanisms and compensating gear being adapted in combination to transmit the weight of the door to the oven structure, whereby the downward thrust arising fromthe weight may be resolved into compensated sealing thrusts distributed between and applied by the jamming mechanismswhen the door is placed in co-operating contact with the-frame.

It will be understood from the above that the expression jamming mechanism connotes a mechanism that resolves andmult'i plies some at least of the downward thrust arising fr'omthe weight of the door into a' sealing thrust;

The interconnected jamming mechanisms and compensating gear may be applied to known types of door, thus making'the' benefitsavailable for exist-ing ovens, and the invention includes the mechanism and gear so applicable to any suitable'door; as' well' as doors and door frames adaptedto co op'erat'e in the'production of compensated sealing thrusts between the door and the oven structure;

A simple form of compensating gear comprises connecting rods each connected'to an intermediate lever capable'of rockingso that when one jamming mechanism has made sealing-thrust contact another jamming mech anism is forced to make its sealing-thrust contact. it is, therefore, immaterialif one jamming mechanism makes initial contact before another (as may be inevitable with fairly large clearances in heavym'echanism' of this type); the play of the intermediate lever ensures that all the jamming mechanisms apply effective sealing thrusts. By

an elaboration-(described below), more than two jamming mechanisms maybearr-anged-to develop compensated thrusts.

The compensating. gearmay bepositively operated to bring the jammingmechanisms-into sealing-thrust contact while the door remains fully supported by the handling machine. Thus,.one of the rodsmay include means for lengthening and shortening. it, with consequentcompensating movement of the intermediate lever. Again, the pivot of the intermediate lever may be bodily movable, the lever then rocking to providethecompensation.

Since the jamming mechanisms each resolve a proportiono'f thew'e'ight' of the'door' into a sealing thrust, the

force resulting from the downward component of the weight and the derived horizontal thrust may be resisted by a single abutment member presenting a thrust surf-ace substantially normal to the resultant force, and some constructions of mechanism according to the invention use such a combined abutment in association with a single movable member of the corresponding mechanism that serves both to transmit the weight and to develop the sealing thrust. Another construction uses separate abutments to resist the weight and the sealing thrusts respectively.

The jamming mechanisms may be movable as a whole with respect to their abutments so as to be brought clear of the abutments to allow the substantially horizontal placing and withdrawing of the door, or there may be members in the jamming mechanisms similarly movable for that purpose.

The operation of the compensating gear may produce sufficient movement for the movable member of any jamming mechanism not only to pass from being merely in operative position (i. e., in line with its abutment) to initial contact with the abutment, but also for the memher to move from its clear position to operative position.

The movement into or out of clear position may, however, be effected otherwise than by operation of the compensatitng gear, e. g., by mechanism on the door handling machine.

The compensating gear, operable manually or from the handling machine, may be used not only to position the jamming mechanisms to distribute the sealing thrust; it may apply some sealing thrust prior to taking of the weight of the door from the machine. But in either case, the removal of the machine leaves the door supported by thrusts arising from the weight of the door.

In order to keep the door frame quite clear, the abutments are duplicated at the two sides of the frame for each jamming mechanism. One form of jamming mechanism comprises a toggle arm adapted to pivot downwardly from the door at a small angle to the horizontal with one end of the arm extending in both directions beyond the side of the door to fit into two abtuments carried by the frame or the oven structure. The downward thrust of the door on the toggle pivot produces a horizontal thrust equal to the proportion of the weight of the door transmitted by the toggle arm multiplied by the cotangent of the angle of inclination of the arm. The arm may be brought clear of the abutments by mechanism on the door handling machine, or this may be done as a result of operating the compensating gear on the door.

Other forms of jamming mechanism include screw jacks, cams, or levers, lever-operated in association with the compensating gear, and rollers fitting inclined surfaces to produce a wedging action, slide-operated in association with the compensating gear.

Several constructions of apparatus according to the invention will now be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a front elevation and Figure 2 a part-sectional side elevation of a door and its frame with one form of jamming mechanism and compensating gear;

Figure 3 is an enlarged detail of Figure 1;

Figures 4 and 5 are sections on the lines 4-4 and 5-5 of Figure 3;

Figure 6 is similar to Figure 1, showing a modification;

Figure 7 is a part-sectional side elevation of a detail of Figure 6;

Figures 8 and 9 are sectional side elevation and plan respectively of an alternative construction of jamming mechanism, taken on the lines 88 and 9-9 of Figures 9 and 8 respectively;

Figure 10 is a modification of Figure 8.

Figures 11 and 12 are a sectional side elevation and 21 plan respectively of a further construction of jamming mechanism;

Figure 13 is a sectional side elevation of a still further construction of jamming mechanism;

Figures 14 and 15 are views similar to Figures l and 2, showing a further form of jamming mechanism and compensating gear;

Figure 16 shows diagrammatically modified means for operating compensating gear; and

Figure 17 is a diagrammatic front elevation of a multiple compensating gear.

In Figures 1 and 2, a door 1 is shown fitted to a frame 2 carried by the oven structure 3 round the oven opening 4, into which projects the usual refractory plug 5 on the inside of the door. The door 1 carries sealing strips 6 bearing all round the door on sealing faces '7 on the frame 2. (The sealing strips are described in greater detail with reference to Figure 4.) Figure 2 shows the door to be supported with a clearance 8 above the bottom of the oven opening 4, i. e., the weight of the door is not taken by contact at or near this position, or by contact between dowels and holes, as has previously been the case with oven doors of the self-sealing type.

At each of two levels, towards the top and bottom respectively of the frame 2, a pair of angle pockets 9 are carried by the side flanges 2A of the frame, one at each side. The angles face inwards, and each one of a pair thus provides a ledge 10 and an outer abutment 11 for a rounded end-portion 12 of a locking bar 13 extending horizontally in both directions across the front of the door and forming part of a toggle mechanism carried by the door. The upper toggle mechanism is designated A, the lower B.

Each locking bar 13 widens to its centre 14 (Figures 3 to 5), and at the center is further widened to form a pivot projection 15 from which the ends of a pivot pin 16 project, parallel to the length of the bar 13. The pin ends fit in vertical wings 17 of a stirrup 18 slidable in brackets 19 fixed to the door front. The rear edges 20 of the wings 17 bear on a plate 21, so that when the bar 13 is brought to the positions shown in Figures 2 and 5, the centre line from the axis of the pin 16 to that of the rounded ends 12 of the bar 13 inclines downwardly at a small angle, say up to 15 or perhaps more. The width of the centre portion 14 of the bar 13 thus corresponds to the length of a toggle arm capable of web ing at its outer end with respect to the angle pockets 9 and at its inner end with respect to the stirrup 18. The downward thrust of the door 1 through the stirrup 13 and the toggle arm thus produces an outward thrust resisted by the angle pockets 9 and an inward thrust of the door towards the sealing faces 7 of the frame 2. This inward thrust is transmitted to the sealing strips 6 and taken by the faces 7. The inward thrust amounts to some multiplication of the proportion of the weight available on each toggle, depending on the inclination of the bar 13.

The sealing strips 6 are of any suitable construction. Figure 4 shows an adjustable type carried by brackets 22 spaced at intervals along the projecting ribs 23 of the door. The sealing member proper is a T-bar 24 carried by a flexible strip 25 clamped to the door at 26 by screws 27. The bar 24 is adjustable by screws 28, the Strip 25 flexing as required to enable the bar to bed onto the sealing face 7 and to enable the sealing fit to be adjusted to take care of any distortion that may arise in the frame 2. As will be explained later, the invention enables any particular door to be replaced in substantially the same position in relation to its frame, so that the benefit of the adjusted sealing strips is continuously maintained.

The stirrup 18 of the lower mechanism B is pivoted to a connecting rod 29 including a screwed length 39, permitting the rod to be lengthened or shortened by a screw-and-nut or Worm-and-piniongear-box 31 operated by a handwheel 32. The other end of the rod 29, 30

is lconnectedwo o'ne' end of a two atmed equaliiing lever 33 pivoted at :its mid pointLGd to Ith'e 'door airman-its other end to a rodi'35 connected to the 18 :of :the upper mechanism A. The length oftthe rod may .be adjusted by a turnk'bucklecilfi. Lengthening of the rod 29, 30 tends to urge Ithe lower'stirrup 1.18 fidownwardly and also to pull the :rod 535 rdownwardly, aso urging the upper;stirmp '18 downwardly. Shortening of the rod .29, .30 produces an \upward inge of tboth stirrups. A hydraulictja'ckiis san' examplc i'ofiralternative mechanism for-alteringtherlength ofrthezrodu29, 30.

Although thestirrups :18 are held totthezd ooril by 'the brackets 19, they are free to moveupand xlown, and the only connection ofzthe'toggleimeclta'nismsA, -B, to the door atarfixed .point isiby'ithe centretpivot 84 of-ithe lever 33.

The plate 21 von which :the Wings :17 of ithe stirrup bear has a central slot .37 Lin whichfits -(=wi-th freedorn for vertical movement) zazrearwardllugiliiifrom the pivot centre '15 'of the locking .bar 113. 'A-s'itheistirrup '18 -is lifted by operation of the handwheel 32, the' har l il tends first to assume "a steeper an'gleito freeits en'ds 12 from thrusting contact with 'i the pockets 19, :but when the lugs 38 strike the top of thexsl'ot 37,:the zbarfiis swung 'counterclockwise (Figure .5) and .its fiends 512 fare lifted clear of the hooks 9. The two bars 13 :are in ithis p'ositi'on as .a door 1 is broughtinto.alignment-Withi-tsifnaimeiz b-y the door handling "machine. FStops .39 (limit ithe upward movement of the :stir-rups.18.

The door handling machine (shown in=broken lines in Figure 2) has a hook '41'.to-ieng'age-'a"bar- 42 across the front of the.door,:andaTheel43 to bear 'against'the side ribs 23 of the door near rtherbottom, so that the door approaching .its frame:in :ia'horizontal rdirection is in a vertical position and :at adefini-te height, 1 sufficient "to provide the clearance 81abovethe bottom "of the "frame -2, and to ensure thatthe lseali'ng s'trips 6113885 *within the frame into precise position on the eca ling faces '-7. With the door thus positioned, but still supported sole'ly by the machine 40, the 'handwhe'l $32 "is operated to lengthen the rod 29,:30'10 lower the stirrups 18 a little, when the lugs 38 drop out of contaot with the-upper'ends of the slots 37, to.a=llo w the"rounde'd:.ends ll-of thebars 13 to pass into operative sposi'tion in the pockets Continued lowering of the istirrups '18 by 'the wheel (manually or from the doorshandling machine brin-gs .the rounded ends 12 of the bars 'IB into-initiaI "thrust- .ing contact with the .abutments formed by -the angle pockets 9. g

If one bar 13 Ibears before th'e other, the connection to the other causes that .other' 'totbe'urgedinto bearing. Thus, if the lower 'bar 13 ibears-fi rsg the =jam1ning- -aleti'on arising because of the toggle effect "between its pockets '9 and the bearingplate 21 Yon the door resists fur'ther movement of the lowersstirrup 18, arfd thecontinue cl operation of the bandwheels32aeauses the end of the lever 33 connected to therod 2 9, 30- to move upwardly, and the rockingof"the'1ever1533 about its pivot "34 pulls the rod 35 downwardly to cause the upper 'bar 13 to bear. Again, if the upper bar slfi bea-rs-first, -'the lever 33 and the connecting .rods35 and 29, 30-eausethe lower bar 13 to bear. Thelever and "the l two "rods thus constitute a compensating geariby whichthrustingcontact"is equalized i. e. well -'distributed "between the upper and lower bars '13.

The handwheel .32, "the 'igea-r box 31, -=an'd "the compensating lever andconnect-ing rodsIare-of robust-construction, to permit "the lstirrups 18 to be 'driveu downwardly with substantial -pressu-re, thus hanging the bars 13 forcibly into .contactuwi-thathe p'oekets 9. "The result is that While the door 51 istill remains*posi-tionedby the machine 40, loweringof-mhei'hook 41"-to 'ena ble the mach-ine to be withdrawndoes notfipermit any appreciable movement of the door. The weight of thefleor, transmitted from the :fixed pivot-"3H througlr the lever BS-and '6 the rods "ofithecompensating gear fto 'the bar's I3, causes :the bars :to he jammed 'between the'pockets *9 andthe :pl-ates121, sand is "resolved into two "substantial sealing .tihrusts, the resultant pressure beingdistribu-ted over the whole lengthiofthe sealing strips 6-and faces 7.

To removeitheidoor, the hook 41 of the door handling machine4tllis =engagedfto the bar-420m the door to take the weight. The wheel- 32th thenwperated in reverse rzdirecti'on to free :the iib'ars 13 fromjaimning:position by lifting of the stirrups T18, until thevengagement of the lugs 38 with the upper ends of the slots 37-lifts the bars .clearofithe.angle' pockets 9. The door-is'thusfree -to-be withdrawn horizon-tally byfthe machine.

-The sustained unressure derived from the weight of the door is automatically maintained throughout the time the door remainsliniits nonnall elosed position,-and is effectively distributed mverthe whole height of the doorwby the.connectionzofthebars 13 through the compensating gear. The sealing pressure is maintained distributed even when the 'dO0I' a'I1d the frame expand. Adjustment of'the degree ofipressure maybe readily effected by any convenient I adjustment of the :angle pockets 9 on the ifra'rne 2.

-Fi-guresa6 and :7 show upper'tan'd lower'toggle mechanisms A, B on the doorri-l in allessentials as in Figures l and2, withthe endsf12 of bars 13 cooperating with angle pockets 9 von theframe'iZ. Theapivot pins 45 however project from .thesides of the stirrups 46 into-vertical slots 47 .in 'the Sides of '.U=brackets $48 carried by the door. The lower 1stirrup 46 is connected at 49 to one end of atwo-armed leverl-SO pivoted at 51 to the-door. The other end 52of't-he lever is connected to a rod 53 extending upwardly to rconne'ct at 754 to another two-armed :lever :55, pivoted at 561tottheupper stirrup-46 and at '57 to a=rod58textending downwardly to a gear-box "59 carried bythe doorz' and operated by a wheel-150.

The :IOd 58 .is screwed at 58A, so -"that it may be lengthenedor'shortened byiturningthe wheel 66 Shortening of'therodurges iboth stirrups=46 downwardly, the pivot \pins45 sliding .down'th'e slots 47 as the ends 12 of the bars '13'beariin :the pockets 9-and the inclination of the bars to the'horizontal'lessens. Both bars are thus .caused tocome into jammingposition between the pockets =9 and the rear edges of the:slots--47, so that when the weight of the door is no longer carried by the handling machine, the required Thorizontal thrust is maintained onthedoor.

In order "to allow the necessary horizontal movement of ithedoorl .towards :and away from "the frame 2, the wheel 60 isfirs't operated'to free the bars 13, which are then lifted clear of'xthe pockets 9 by bars=61'(one only -shown;in Figure .7) manipulated from the handling machine, a part ofwhich is shown at'62, the bars ol being lowered when the door is applied tothe frame, before the wheel 60 is turned .to i lowerthe stirrups '46.

In Figures 'S-"and 9, an upper -stirrup70, pivoted to a rod 35 of compensating gear as in Figure 1, is pivoted at :71't0apair0f 1evers 72 through which passes a bar 73 to engage pockets 741on theframeZ. Between the outer ends of the levers 72.issecured a leverarm "75' facing a .bearingstrip'76 icarried at 77 fromthe door 1. A'down- :ward urge .of the stirrup "rotates 'the "levers 72, anti-clockwise todevelop a sealing thrust on vthe door through the strip "76, the bar 73 applying a counterthrustonthepockets '74. When'thestirrup 70 has been lifted tofree'the lever 75'fom bearing with thestrip 76, -further'liftin'g of'the stirrup .provides for the lifting of the bar 73 clear "of 'the pockets'74'by bringing a lug 78 into'contact with the top of a slot 79.

Although'in Figure'Z, the anglepockets 9 are shown each with a horizontal face 10 to take the weight of the door and 'a vertical face 11 to take .the thrust resolved 'from'the weight, Figure 18 shows that a curved face in the pocket"74 conforming to the cylindrical surface .or" theend'ofthe bar"73'serves simultaneously to take the downward thrust and the sealing thrustsince it is the resultant of the weight and the derived thrust that has to be taken by the pocket, and that resultant acts along the centre line of the bar 73 through the axis of its pivot. As will be shown below, it is also possible to use quite separate abutments to take the weight and the thrust respectively, instead of combining the functions of two abutments into each single pocket.

In Figure 10, a cam 80 is secured between a pair of levers 72, as in Figure 8, to make bearing contact with a strip 76.

In Figures 11 and 12, an upper slide 90 pivoted to a rod 91 (corresponding to the rod 35 of Figure 1) is disposed on the door 1 between guides 92 and distance pieces 93, and is provided with a rear plate 94 bearing on rollers 95 pivoted between the distance pieces. Cheeks 96 carry a square bar 97 with one face parallel to the inclined face 98 of hooks 99 carried by the frame 2. A first downward movement of the slide 90 brings the bar 97 into bearing with the face 98, the compensating gear of which the rod 91 forms a part ensuring that the bar of the similar lower jamming mechanism also comes into bearing: and a continuation of the movement of the slide develops a sealing thrust, taken by the door 1 through the rollers 95 and plate 94.

In Figure 13, a roller 100 and hook 101 with inclined face 102 has the roller 100 carried by an upper slide 103 disposed in guides 104 (one only shown) on the door 1, the slide being pivoted to a rod 105 forming part of compensating mechanism by means of which the slide and a similar lower slide may both be brought into thrusting contact. The roller 100 clears the hook 101 when the slide 103 is sufiiciently lifted.

In Figures 14 and 15, swinging latches 110, much as used with existing self-sealing doors but then separately tightened by screws operated by a spanner, are pivoted in bosses 111 on the door 1. The ends 112 of each latch can be swung into upwardly and downwardly pointing hooks 113A, 113B on the frame 2. The inner faces 114 of the hooks are vertical, and so can only resist a horizontal thrust. The boss 111 is internally screwed, and the end 115 of a stub axle 116 on the outer end of which each latch 110 is free to swing is screwed into the boss, thus providing an attachment of the jamming mechanism to the door.

A lever 117 secured to the axle 116 of the lower jamming mechanism is connected through a rod 118, 119, lengthened or shortened by a gear-box 120 and a wheel 121, to the outer end 122 of an intermediate lever 122A lying generally normal to the door 1. The inner end of the lever 122A is pivoted at 123 to a rod 124 pivoted to the lever 117 of the upper jamming mechanism. The pivot 122B of the lever 122A is carried between levers 125, pivoted in brackets 125A on the door, and carrying a cross bar 125B, the ends of which are adapted to bear on the horizontal faces of a pair of abutments on the frame 2.

The levers 116 are shown just clear of the inner faces 114 of the hooks 113A, 113B, and the cross bar 1253 is similarly clear of the abutments 127.

When the door 1 is applied to the frame 2, the latches 110 are in the position shown in broken lines in Figure 14. The bars 110 are swung manually to engage the hooks 113A, 113B. Operation of the wheel 121 brings the bar 125B on to the abutments 127 and also rotates the levers 117 so that the axles 116 are screwed out of the bosses 111 to force the ends of the latches 110 against the vertical faces 114 of the hooks 113, the lever 122A providing compensation to ensure that both latches come into bearing. Thus, operation of the wheel 121 develops a sealing thrust at both latches by jamming action from the faces 126 and the bosses 111, the weight of the door being transmitted from the bosses 111 through the connecting rods 118, 119 and 124, the lever 122A and the levers 125 of the compensating gear to the abutments 127, and in being so transmitted is resolved into sealing thrusts by the two jamming mechanisms. The door is positively positioned vertically by the contact of the bar 125B with the abutments 127, thus ensuring maintenance of the clearance 8. (This is an example of quite separate abutments for the Weight and sealing thrusts respectively, as previously mentioned.)

When the door is to be withdrawn, the handling machine is applied, ready to take the weight, and the wheel 121 is operated in reverse direction to free the jamming action, and then the latches are swung manually clear of the hooks 113, the bar B also lifting from the abutments127.

Previous figures have shown the positive operation of the compensating to be etfected by lengthening and shortening one of its connecting rods. Figure 16 shows a modification, in which the intermediate lever 33 is not pivoted directly on the door 1 but in a slide 128, shown as the ram of a hydraulic cylinder 129 carried by the door. Screw-jack or other mechanism could equally serve to move the pivot 34.

When the pivot is moved downwards, the result is equivalent to the lengthening of the rod 29, 30 in Figures 1 to 5, the rod 29A pushing down the slide of the lower jamming mechanism and the rod 35A pulling down the upper jamming mechanism.

In Figure 17, four latches 130, co-operating with pairs of hooks 131, are connected in pairs by rods 132, 133, and compensating levers 134, the latter being pivoted at 135 to rods 136, 137 connected at their other ends to a main compensating lever 138 pivoted at 139 to the door. One of the rods 136, 137 may be lengthened and shortened as previously described, action in one direction bringing the ends of all the latches into their hooks 131 and the provision of the three compensating levers 134, 138 ensuring that all the latches come into bearing contact, thus providing sealing thrusts distributed from four levers in the height of the door.

What I claim is:

1. A self-sealing door adapted to make sealing contact against the vertical face of the door frame of a horizontal oven and provided with locking means to cooperate with abutments carried by the oven structure to take the weight of the door and also to resolve the weight into sealing thrusts, said door comprising as its locking means upper and lower slides on the door, a lever locking bar horizontally pivoted in each slide, and extending outwardly and downwardly from the pivot in locking position, a compensating lever pivoted on the door, and connections from the opposite ends of the compensating lever to the respective slides, whereby movement of either locking bar into weight-taking and thrust-resolving contact with its abutments produces through the connections and the compensating lever a movement of the slide of the other locking lever that urges that locking bar towards contact with its abutments.

2. A self-sealing door adapted to make sealing contact against the vertical face of the door frame of a horizontal oven and provided with locking means to co-operate with abutments carried by the oven structure to take the weight of the door and also to resolve the weight into sealing thrusts, said door comprising as its locking means upper and lower slides on the door, a lever locking bar horizontally pivoted in each slide, and extending outwardly and downwardly from the pivot in locking position, a compensating lever pivoted on the door intermediately of the slides, and link connections from the opposite ends of the compensating lever to the respective slides, whereby movement of either locking bar into weight-taking and thrust-receiving contact with its abutments produces through the connections and the compensating lever a movement of the slide of the other locking lever that urges that locking bar towards contact with its abutments.

3. A self-sealing door adapted to make sealing con- 9 tact againSt'the vertical face of the door frame of a horizontal oven and provided with locking means to co-operate with abutments'carried by the oven structure to takethe weight of the door and also to resolve the weight into sealing thrusts, said door comprising as its locking means upper and lower slides on the door, a lever locking bar horizontally pivoted in each slide, and extending outwardly and downwardly from the pivot in locking position, a compensating lever pivoted on the door, and connections from the opposite ends of the compensating lever to the respective slides, whereby movement of either locking bar into weight-taking and thrust-resolving contact with its abutments produces through the connections and the compensating lever a movement of the slide of the other locking lever that urges that locking bar towards contact with its abutments, the connection between one slide and the compensating lever being an extensible link, and means being provided for lengthening and shortening that link.

4. A self-sealing door adapted to make sealing contact against the vertical face of the door frame of a horizontal oven and provided with locking means to co operate with abutments carried by the oven structure to take the weight of the door and also to resolve the weight into sealing thrusts, said door comprising as its locking means upper and lower slides on the door, a lever locking bar horizontally pivoted in each slide, and extending outwardly and downwardly from the pivot in locking position, a compensating lever pivoted on the door, a direct pivotal connection from one end of the compensating lever to one of the slides, a further two-armed lever pivoted at one end to the other slide, a link connection from the other end of the further lever to the other end of the compensating lever, an extensible link connection pivoted at one end to the other end of the further lever and at the other end to the door, and means for lengthening'and shortening the extensible link, whereby movement of either locking bar into weight-taking and thrustresolving contact with its abutments produces through the connections between the slides and the compensating lever a movement of the slide of the other locking lever that urges that locking bar towards contact with its abutments.

5. A self-sealing door adapted to make sealing contact against the vertical face of the door frame of a horizontal oven and provided with locking means to co-operate with abutments carried by the oven structure to take the weight of the door and also to resolve the weight into sealing thrusts, said door comprising as its locking means upper and lower slides on the door, a lever locking bar horizontally pivoted in each slide, and extending outwardly and downwardly from the pivot in locking position, a vertical slide carried by the door intermediately of the locking bar slides, a compensating lever pivoted on the vertical slide, and connections from the opposite ends of the compensating lever to the respective slides, whereby movement of either locking bar into weight-taking and thrust-resolving contact with its abutments produces through the connections and the compensating lever a movement of the slide of the other locking lever that urges that locking bar towards contact with its abutments.

6. A self-sealing door as in claim 5, comprising a projection facing the door on each lever locking bar, and a cooperating stop on the door above each projection, whereby sufiicient vertical movement imparted to both slides by movement of the vertical slide for the compensating lever lifts the lever locking bars by rotation about their pivots.

7. A self-sealing door adapted to make sealing contact against the vertical face of the door frame of a horizontal oven and provided with locking means to co-operate with abutments carried by the oven structure to take the weight of the door and also to resolve the weight into sealing thrusts, said door comprising as its locking means upper and lower slides on the door, weight-taking and thrustresolving locking means operatively connected to each slide, one locking-means. being movable in thesame direction as the other locking means inmoving to thrust-resolving position, a compensating. lever pivoted on the door, and connections from opposite ends of the compensating lever to therespective slides, whereby movement of either locking means into weight-taking and thrust-resolving contact with its abutments produces through the connections and the compensatinglever movement of the slide of the other'locking means that urges that locking means towards contact with its abutments.

8. A horizontal coke oven, a .doorframe with a vertical face, a self-sealing door adapted to'make sealing contact with the vertical face, upper and lower pairs of abutments carried by the oven structure at the sides of the frame and presenting vertical surfaces facing the oven, a central pair of abutments carriedby the oven structure and presenting upper supporting surfaces, upper and lower screw jacks carried by the door, a transverse locking bar pivotally carried by each screw jack and adapted to be swung opposite the pair of vertical abutment surfaces, a central two-armed compensating lever, an operating lever for each screw jack, connecting links from the operating levers to the opposite ends of the compensating lever, a transverse support bar spanning the pair of horizontal surfaces, a support lever carrying the support bar, a horizontal pivot for the support lever on the door, a horizontal pivot on the support lever for the compensating lever, whereby as the downward weight of the door is transmitted through the support lever and the support bar to the horizontal abutment surfaces, the resultant rocking of the support lever produces a rocking of the compensating lever to urge both locking bars through the links and the screw jacks into sealing'thrust contact with the pairs of vertical abutment surfaces, irrespective of whether one looking bar has made its contact before the other bar, to produce sealing thrusts resolved from the weight of the door.

9. A horizontal coke oven, door frame, and door with compensated screw jacks to resolve the weight of the door into sealing thrusts as in claim.8, wherein one of the links from the compensating lever is extensible, and means are provided for lengthening and shortening the link.

10. A self-sealing door adapted to make sealing contact against the vertical face of the door frame of a horizontal oven and to be supported by abutments carried by the oven structure, some abutments taking the Weight of the door and others providing for sealing thrusts resolved from the weight of the door, said door comprising upper and lower screw jacks projecting outwardly from the door, a transverse locking bar pivotally carried by each screw jack and adapted to be swung opposite sealing-thrust abutments, a central two-armed compensating lever, an operating lever for each screw jack, connecting links from the operating levers to the opposite ends of the compensating lever, a transverse support bar adapted to lie above a pair of weight-taking abutments, a support lever carrying the support bar, a horizontal pivot for the support lever on the door, and a horizontal pivot on the support lever for the compensating lever, whereby rocking of the support lever in weight-taking position produces a rocking of the compensating lever to urge both locking bars through the links and the screw jacks towards their sealing-thrust positions irrespective of whether one locking bar reaches its position before the other.

11. A self-sealing door as in claim 10, wherein one of the links from the compensating lever is extensible, and means are provided for lengthening and shortening the link.

12. Locking means adapted to be applied to a selfsealing door for a horizontal coke oven of the type having sealing strips to be pressed against corresponding sealing faces round a door frame when the door is placed in up right position against the frame, the oven structure having abutments to receive thrusts applied by the locking means,

said locking means comprising upper and lower slides adapted to be carried by a door, two thrust-resolving lever locking bars horizontally pivoted to the respective slides and extending downwardly and outwardly from the slide pivots, a two-armed compensating lever adapted to be pivoted to a door, and connections from the opposite ends of the compensating lever to the respective slides.

13. Locking means as in claim 12, comprising a link connection between one slide and the compensating lever, that link being extensible, and means for lengthening and shortening that link.

14. Locking means as in claim 12, comprising a vertical slide adapted to be carried by a door, and a pivot for the compensating lever in the vertical slide.

15. Locking means as in claim 14, comprising in association with each lever locking bar slide a member adapted to be carried by the door to provide a stop, and a projection on each lever locking bar to co-operate with the stop, whereby a movement of the vertical slide brings the projections into contact with the stops to rock the locking bars about their pivots.

16. Locking means adapted to be applied to a selfsealing door for a horizontal coke oven of the type having sealing strips to be pressed against corresponding sealing faces round a door frame when the door is placed in upright position against the frame, the oven structure having abutments to receive thrusts applied by the locking means, said locking means comprising upper and lower screw jacks, a transverse locking bar pivotally carried by each screw jack, a two-armed compensating lever adapted to be pivoted to a door, operating levers for each screw jack connected to the opposite ends of the compensating lever, this lever being disposed centrally between the jacks, a support lever adapted to be carried by a door by a horizontal pivot, and a horizontal pivot for the compensating lever on the support lever.

17. Locking means as in claim 16, wherein one of the links from the compensating lever is extensible, and means are provided for lengthening and shortening the link.

18. Locking means adapted to be applied to a selfsealing door for a horizontal coke oven of the type having 12 sealing strips to be pressed against corresponding sealing faces round a door frame when the door is placed in upright position against the frame, the oven structure having abutments to receive thrusts received by the locking means, said locking means comprising upper and lower slides, brackets adapted to be carried by a door to guide the slides, thrust-applying members carried by the slides for co-operation with corresponding abutments in one direction of vertical movement of the slides, a two-armed compensating lever adapted to be pivoted to a door, a connecting link from one end of the lever to one of the slides, and a connecting link from the other end of the lever to the other of the slides, these links constituting the sole operative connection between the lever and each respective slide, whereby relative movement of one slide with respect to the pivot of the two-armed lever must be accompanied by corresponding but opposite movement of the other slide relative to the pivot.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 572,485 Hays Dec. 1, 1896 736,281 MacDougall Aug. 11, 1903 815,466 Phillips Mar. 20, 1906 964,055 Riecke July 12, 1910 1,795,324 Wilhelm Mar. 10, 1931 1,927,294 Perrigo Sept. 13, 1933 1,929,370 Hamilton Oct. 3, 1933 2,207,589 Koppers July 9, 1940 2,234,575 Otto et al Mar. 11, 1941 2,244,671 Berg et a1 June 10, 1941 2,251,541 Grosshoff Aug. 5, 1941 2,293,434 Giese Aug. 18, 1942 2,343,977 Jones et al. Mar. 14, 1944 2,442,031 Beauchamp May 25, 1948 2,560,419 Ditchfield July 10, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS 518,761 Germany Feb. 19, 1931 586,357 Germany Oct. 20, 1933 77,731 Sweden July 4, 1933 

18. LOCKING MEANS ADAPTED TO BE APPLIED TO A SELFSEALING DOOR FOR A HORIZONTAL COKE OVEN OF THE TYPE HAVING SEALING STRIPS TO BE PRESSED AGAINST CORRESPONDING SEALING FACES ROUND A DOOR FRAME WHEN THE DOOR IS PLACED IN UPRIGHT POSITION AGAINST THE FRAME, THE OVEN STRUCTURE HAVING ABUTMENTS TO RECEIVE THRUSTS RECEIVED BY THE LOCKING MEANS, SAID LOCKING MEANS COMPRISING UPPER AND LOWER SLIDES, BRACKETS ADAPTED TO BE CARRIED BY A DOOR TO GUIDE THE SLIDES, THRUST-APPLYING MEMBERS CARRIED BY THE SLIDES FOR CO-OPERATION WITH CORRESPONDING ABUTMENTS IN ONE DIRECTION OF VERTICAL MOVEMENT OF THE SLIDES, A TWO-ARMED COMPENSATING LEVER ADAPTED TO BE PIVOTED TO A DOOR, A CONNECTING LINK FROM ONE END OF THE LEVER TO ONE OF THE SLIDES, AND A CONNECTING LINK FROM THE OTHER END OF THE LEVER TO THE OTHER OF THE SLIDES, THESE LINKS CONSTITIUTING THE SOLE OPERATIVE CONNECTION BETWEEN THE LEVER AND EACH RESPEC- 